3-4 chord songs, I'm ready for more.

JackLuis

JackLuis

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I've only been playing a year but have not been able to finger pick, but I like more complex music. I don't sing well and never gave it much of a try, so I get tired of playing Johnny Cash like I-IV-V7-VIm songs.

Recently I've been learning Hogie Carmichael's "Georgia" with ~9 chords and an intricate strum pattern. Very interesting sounds. Challenging but interesting. Paul Simon is a bit too advanced for me yet but I try some of his songs too.

Any suggestions for more intricate, but not too complex music?
 
I would suggest looking at the Beatles. Their music evolved from simple pop tunes into more complex 'psychedelic' pieces over time as they became more experimental. Exposure to different influences, including the classical leanings of the late George Martin, meant that their work typically achieved a level of sophistication lacking in their contemporaries. McCartney, in particular (IMHO) liked dropping in a few 'jazzy' chords whenever he got the chance.
 
Here is a suggestion. Buy the Daily Ukulele book. It is a good book, and a lot of groups and uke festivals use it for their strumalongs. There's 365 songs in it, and at the top of each song is diagrams of the chords used in that song. Get the book, page through, find a song with whatever chord count you want, and go nuts. I think that might be a good way to go. If that isn't going to work, I'll go ahead and give you a couple that I like.
 
Having just purchased both Daily Uke books, I would agree with the above, & when you feel like having another go at finger picking, you have the melody lines to play. :)
 
Ukulele Daily is sort of the "go-to" book in a lot of places, although I've never figured out why. If you know how to read sheet music, it's okay. The chord arrangements aren't any better or worse than anyone else's, but the fact that you can see the melody line is nice (if you know how to play the melody line). If you don't read sheet music though, the books are a rip off.

If you don't read sheet music, there are an amazing number of free tabs and chord sheets available on the web.
 
My neighbor returned a couple of guitar books I loaned him. They date back~30 years when I was trying to play six strings.

I looked thru one and found that it had mostly strum patterns and chords for lot of 70's music, including the Beatles and other popular musicians. I had forgotten about this book but if I ignore the top two strings, I can play 90+% of it. Well I can at least attempt it.

The other is more notional based and will force me to read the music, and learn the fret board, something I haven't worked on with my G tuned Tenors.

I think I saved myself $30. :p
 
YouTube Mike Lynch Somewhere Beyond the Sea. Tons of chords in one song and not hard to play. I swear there must be 20 chords in that song. It's the first "tough" song I learned how to play.
 
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